USB FIFO Mimics COM Ports

The FT8U245AM is claimed to be a cost-effective single chip USB UART solution for transferring serial data over the universal serial bus (USB). It can be used to upgrade RS-232 designs to USB with minimal development and cost. The traditional approach was to re-design the product using a USB microcontroller, however by replacing the RS232 level converter IC inside the product with the FT8U245AM and installing the included drivers, the job is done. Features include transfer rates up to 920 kb/s (RS232) and 2 Mb/s (RS422/RS485). Price is $3 each/1,000.